Fareham Open Round 5 (I took a half-point bye in round four on Saturday evening)
Spanish Berlin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1!?
This used to be regarded as a way to dull equality, but in the last 10 years - maybe longer - it has been used by grandmasters as a serious attempt to gain a significant advantage.
5...Nd6 6.Bxc6!?
This too has been played by GMs, but it is hard to believe giving up the bishop-pair like this can be the best continuation.
6...dxc6 7.Nxe5
The position somewhat resembles lines from the Exchange Variation of the Spanish, especially with regard to Black's pawn-structure, and Black having the bishop-pair. The big difference is White does not have a kingside pawn-majority, ie the d2 pawn would be on e4 in Spanish Exchange lines. Stockfish14 reckons Black is already slightly better, while Komodo12.1.1 calls the position dead-equal.
7...Be7 8.d4 Nf5!?
Much more popular is 8...0-0. The idea of the text is to induce White to play 9.c3, thus depriving the white queen's knight of its 'natural' development-square. However, after 8...0-0, if White plays 9.Nc3, Black can reply 9...Nf5, almost forcing the retreat 10.Nf3.
9.c3 0-0 10.Nf3!?
An unprovoked retreat, but the engines are happy with it.
10...Re8 11.Nbd2 Be6 12.b3 c5 13.Bb2 cxd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.cxd4
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| How would you assess this position? |
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Black's bishop-pair on a fairly open board, combined with White's isolani, means Black is much better although, as usual, Stockfish14 (+1.27) is more enthusiastic than Komodo12.1.1 (+0.60).
15...Qd7 16.Nf3 Rad8 17.Qc2 Bf5 18.Qc3 Ne5
The engines prefer 18...f6!? to keep the knight out of e5 as well as protecting g7.
19.Ne5 Qd5
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| Can White safely capture the c pawn? |
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Yes! The game saw ...
20.Qf3?!
... but the engines point out that 20.Qxc7! Rc8, apparently trapping the white queen, can be met by 21.Nc4, when the threat of back-rank mate makes the queen immune. Instead the engines suggest meeting 20.Qxc7! with 20...h5 21.Qc1 Re6, with good compensation, but no more, for the pawn.
The text allows queens to be traded, which almost certainly favours Black, so the engines reckon a better try than the text (apart from 20.Qxc7!) is 20.Re2.
20...Qxf3 21.Nxf3 c5 22.Rxe8+ Rxe8 23.Rd1 Re2 24.Rd2 Rxd2 25.Nxd2 cxd4?!
There is no rush to capture this pawn. The engines prefer 25...g5!?, eg 26.Kf1 Kg7!? 27.Nf3 c4!? 28.Ke2 cxb3 29.axb3 Be4, reckoning Black is well on top.
26.Nf3 d3
The engines reckon Black retains an edge by giving up the d pawn but keeping the bishop-pair, ie 26...Bb1 27.a3 Ba2 28.b4 a6!? 29.Bxd4 Bd8, although the position looks drawish.
27.Bxf6 gxf6 28.Nd2 Kf8 29.f3 Ke7 30.h4?!
White needs to activate his king, so natural - and equal, according to the engines - is 30.Kf2.
30...Kd6 31.Kf2
Not a problem for Black is 31.g4 Bd7.
31...Kc5 32.a3?
Now the black king gets to dominate the centre of the board. A better try is 32.Ke3 Kb4 33.g4 Be6 34.Kxd3, but 34...Ka3 etc looks very good for Black.
32...Kd4 33.g4 Be6 34.h5 a5 35.h6 Kc3 36.Ne4+ Kc2 37.Ke3 Bxb3
The capture of a second pawn makes the win simple.
The game finished:
38.Nd2 a4 39.f4 b5 40.f5 b4 41.axb4 a3 0-1
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